Gas-lighting device



(Model.) I

J. H- PARREL. GAS LIGHTING DEVICE.

No. 421,918. Patented Feb. 25, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN H. FARREL, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS TOTIENRY V. MAYBAUM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-LIGHTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,918, dated February25, 1890.

' Application filed fieptember 17, 1889. Serial No. 324,211. (Model-l Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. FARREL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Camden, in the county of Camden and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-LightingDevices, of which the following is a specification. a

My invention in general relates to gaslighting devices as applied to theburners of chandeliers and other fixtures, and it especially relates tothat class of lighting devices in'which an inflammable or ignitiblestrip is fed and firedto cause the gas issuing from the burner to belighted either intermittently with the feeding and firing of the stripor simultaneously with the firing of the strip of the device.

l-Ieretofore gas-lighting devices have been provided with stripscomposed of fulminating-pellets, which have been fed forward by means ofmore or less complicated and delt cately-adjusted mechanism beneath anoscillating hammer in proximity to a jet of escaping gas, and thepellets exploded by the hammer to cause the escaping gas at the burnerto be lighted; but in the practical application of such type of lightingdevices the flash produced by the fulminating-pellets is of such minuteduration as that the escaping gas is not always ignited, andconsequently it often becomes necessary, before being able to light thegas, to explode several of the pellets. Moreover, it is extremelydifficult, if not impossible, even when the device is comparatively new,to so maintain the adjustment of the feeding mechanism thereof as tocause the hammer to always strike and explode the pellets, and when thedevice becomes worn and the parts necessarily more or less disarrangedit frequently happens that the hammer fails to explode the pellets, andconsequently from such uncertainty in action the device is renderedthereby practically worthless, Furthermore, gaslighting devices haveheretofore been provided with cords or tapes made by drawing themthrough collodion and steeping in abath of phosphorus held in solutionby bisulphide of carbon, and then passing them through collodion anddrying and coating with shellac varnish or steeping them in a bath ofphosphorus held in solution by bisulphide of carbon, and then drawingthem through collodion and drying and coating with shellac and varnish.

The principal objects of my present invention are, first, to provide acombined burner and lighting device in which the disadvantages andimperfections above mentioned are obviated and a lighting devicefurnished I which in action is partially automatic and adapted to.contain an ignitible or consuming strip, which is fed and. ignited toproduce a flame continuing to burn until the gas is lighted, incontradistinction to the strips as heretofore made havingfulminatingpellets for producing a momentary flash when exploded forsuch purpose; second, to provide a lighting device of'durableconstruction for holding an inflammable strip readily ignitible byfriction and the device provided with I comparatively simple mechanismto feed said strip to cause it to be ignited at the exposed end thereofby being brought into frictional contact with a scratcher; third, toprovide a lighting device with means whereby the flame produced at theexposed end of the strip may be extinguished, and, fourth, to provide aburner with. an automatic lighting device of simple construction andcomparatively inex- 8o pensive, without complicated ordelicatelyadjusted feeding mechanism, whereby effective action in use ofthe device is insured.

My invention consists of a lighting device provided with a burner and areceptacle or housing adapted to receive an inflammable or ignitiblestrip formed, preferably, into a coil, and such a strip as is capable ofbeing readily ignited by friction, and the device provided with means tofeed and fire said strip, and simultaneously with the firing allow thegas to flow through the burner to be lighted and the flame at theexposed end of said strip to be then extinguished, and the gas passingthrough the fixture and burner out off ad Zibittmn The nature andcharacteristic features of my invention will be more fully understoodtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof,and in which I00 device to light and extinguish the gas.

of the housing or receptacle (1 Figure 1 is a perspective view of agasburner with a lighting device applied thereto and such as embodiesthe particular features of my invention, and the same provided withdepending chains or cords for actuating the Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the burner with a lighting device applied thereto; but the lid orcover of the housing of the device in this view is removed in order toexpose to view the ignitible strip formed into coils therein. Fig. 3 isa top or plan View thereof. Fig. 4is a perspective view, on a largerscale, of the several parts of the device detached and showing theirrespective relative positions to each other in the device.

Referring to the drawings, A is a gas-burner of any preferred materialand construction, and such as may be adapted to a chandelier or othergas-fixture, and provided with a lava or other suitable tip a. Thisburner A has a seat a, Fig. 4, for the reception of the stopcock B. V I

Formed, preferably, integral with the burner is a radial or curved arm aprovided with a scratcher a This radial or curved arm a has formedtherein a slot a for a purpose to be presently described.

The stop-cock B, of any preferred construction, is pivotally held to itsseat a by means of a screw 1) and an interposed gasket b The armb,secured to or formed integral with the stop-cock B, has an aperture Z),adapted to receive a chain or cord 1).

O is a circular plate or disk, made of brass orother preferred material,having a central opening 0 therein and lugs c and 0 partially out out,stamped, or secured thereto. This plate or disk .0 has an arm 0, adaptedto receive a chain or cord 0, and it also has a rearwardly-curved dog0*. An annular rim D, provided with a spring-catch d, issecured to theplate 0 and forms a housing or receptacle d for the ignitible strip y. Atube E, having similarly-disposed parallel slots 6 and 6 formed therein,is secured to the annular rim D and communicates with the interiorSimilarlydisposed flat springs F and F, secured in any preferred mannerto the exterior surface of the rim D, extend into the slots and e of thetube E, and these springs not only support but aid in feeding theignitible strip.

in an upward direction through the tube E. The lugs c and c of the plateor disk 0 are bent parallel with and are slightly in rear of eler'H,provided with a lateral pin h, which extends into the slot a of theradial arm a Curved strips 1, provided with guards or guides 2' and withsimilarly disposed feedstrips 1" and i extending into the-parallel slots6 and e of the tube E, are secured to or formed integral with theinverted-U-shaped traveler H. g

The plate or disk 0 and the several parts of the device, as-abovedescribed, are pivotally connected with the stop-cock B by means of ascrew and an interposed gasket or washer 70. Thecover L of the housing(1 for the ignitible strip y is held to place against the edge of therim D by means of the springcatch (1 A spiral spring 8 is attached atone of its extremities to the lever-arm c and at its op posite extremityto any convenient portion of the burner A. The spring 3 performsautomatically the function of directing the posi tion of the tube E inrespect to the burner when the chain or cord 11 is released, as will beunderstood from the drawings.

The ignitible strip 3/ for use in the device, and towhich preference isgiven, is made of several sheets of paper or other somewhat similarmaterial coated with substances or materials of areadily-ignitiblecharacter,-and these sheets, after a suitable treatment to cause them toarrive at their perfected condition, are cut up into strips andpreferably formediuto coils for use.

The advantages incident to the use of such character of strip are,first, that of the absolute certainty of its igniting to produce a flameinstead of a momentary flash; second, the entire strip is composed ofsubstances or materials capable of ready ignition, and, third,

such strip lasts longer than those provided with pellets and is lessexpensive, and economy in time and labor is to be had in the use of suchstrips, owing to the fact that the entire strip may be consumed beforeoccasion arises to supply a new strip to the device.

The mode of operation of the gas-lighting device is as follows: Thecover L of the device beingremoved, the inflammable strip ofreadily-ignitible material formed into a coil is mounted in the housingdiand the free end-of the same passed between the springs F and F,feed-springs vi and i and the-vertical tube E, and said cover thenrestored to its former position in contact with the edge of the annularrim D, and held in that position by means of the spring catch- 01 Thelever arm I) is then drawn downward by means of the chain or cord biandsimulta neously the stopcock B is turned, which pre vents the gas fromescaping at the burner. The tension of the spring 8 raises 'thearm cfrom the position it occupies in Figs. land 2 and moves the plate ordisk 0 and the parts connected therewith about the screw 70 to theright, so that the pin h of the inverted-U shaped traveler H is affordeda range of movement inthe slot 01, of the radial arm a of the burner,thus depressing said traveler H, and with it the feed-springs t" and 7?,the tube E now occupying a position to the-right and beneath thescratcher a. It will be un= derstood that when the feed springs 2" and2' are being depressed the stationary springs F and F so support theignitible strip as that the feed-springs slip along the strip withoutmoving the same. In order to light the gas, the arm 0 is drawn downwardby means of the chain or cord 0 which causes the feedsprings e" and i tobe raised and to feed the ignitible strip y a short distance beyond thetube E, and at the same time the projecting or exposed end of said stripis brought into contact with the scratcher a thereby igniting the sameand producing a flame. The lug or dog 0 engages the arm 6 therebyturning the stopcock B and allowing the gas to escape from the burner A,while at the same time the burning strip 3 is brought into closeproximity to the tip a of the burner, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1and 2, thereby igniting the gas escaping therefrom. \Vhen the gas isignited, the chain c is released, and the spring 8 returns the tube E toits normal position. The ignitible or consuming strip 'y is extinguishedeither by burning down to the upper edge of the tube E or by beingsmothered beneath the scratcher a. i

The inverted-Ushaped traveller H, and with it the feed-springs z" and imay be actuated and the springs caused to feed the ignitible strip yeither while the tube E is advancing toward the gas-burner or while thetube E is receding from the burner A by varying the shape or form of theslot a; but I prefer, however, to cause the springs c" and i to feed thestrip y while the tube E is advancing toward the burner A and scratcheratin order to obviate any tendency of the exposed end of the ignitiblestrip to again strike against the scratcher a after the gas escapingthrough the burner has been lighted.

It is manifestly obvious that as to minor details slight modificationsmay be made without departing in any way from the spirit of theinvention, and hence I crave the right to modify the device in suchmanner as in the more extended practice of the invention will give themost satisfactory results or effective action of the parts for thepurposes hereinbefore explained.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a burner provided with a radial arm having aslot therein and a scratcher connected therewith, of a device providedwith a tube and a pin engaging in the slot of said arm, and said deviceadapted to contain an ignitible strip, and means, substantially asdescribed, to feed said strip through said tube and cause the same tocontact with said scratcher, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

2. The combination, with a burner provided with an arm and a scratcherconnected therewith, of adevice adapted to contain an ignitible strip, avertical tube connected with said device, stationary springs supportingthe strip in said tube, atraveler having feedsprings, and means topermit of the strip being fed through said vertical tube to contact withsaid scratcher, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, with a burner provided with a slotted arm carrying ascratcher, of a receptacle provided with a feed-tube and springs andways and adapted to contain an ignitible strip, a traveler sliding insaid ways, and feed-springs caused to contact with said strip, a pinengaging in said slotted arm, and means to actuate said traveler,substantially as and for the purposes described;

4n The combination, with a burner provided with an arm and a scratcherpivotally connected with the stop-cock thereof, of a receptacle providedwith a vertical tube adapted to contain an ignitible or consuming strip,stationary springs extending into said tube, and 8 5 means,substantially as described, to feed. said strip through said verticaltube and to cause said scratcher to ignite said strip by frictionalcontact therewith, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JOHN II. FARREL.

Witnesses:

Geo. W. REED, THOMAS M. SMlTH.

